College Course Policies and Information

Syllabi

It is a state law that your CV (an abbreviated version is sufficient) and course syllabus be attached to the online Howdy schedule of classes by the seventh day following the start of classes. Consult your department head about the process your department uses. The university is very strict about this requirement and expects 100% compliance.

When creating your syllabus, please use the Mays Syllabus Template, which contains the minimum requirements for a course syllabus as prescribed by the Texas A&M Faculty Senate and Mays Business School.

Food and beverage policy

We have beautiful and state-of-the-art classrooms in the Wehner Building and Cox Hall. We want to maintain the high quality of these classrooms for the students in future years. Thus, it is necessary for you to adhere to the established policy of NO BEVERAGES, FOOD, TOBACCO PRODUCTS, OR ANIMALS (unless approved) within the Wehner Building and Cox Hall classrooms.

Your assistance in enforcing this policy is greatly appreciated.

Dropping students for lack of payment

In the past, students who have not paid their fees by the Friday immediately preceding the first day of classes have been dropped from their classes. This creates increased pressure on advisors, many times requiring them to force students into classes which are already at the limit. Students who have failed to pay by the deadline will have the first three days of classes to pay. Class rosters will highlight those students. Please make sure you verify enrollment in your classes against the roster.

60 hours needed for upper-level courses

Somewhat regularly, we have to deal with situations where non-business students with less than 60 hours directly contact Mays faculty requesting permission to enroll in their 300- or 400-level courses. Granting them permission to do so violates Mays policy.

We require business students to be in upper division before taking 300- and 400-level business courses, and we extend that policy to non-business majors at least to the point that they have 60 or more hours. Each semester, the Undergraduate Program Office is charged with the responsibility of enforcing this school policy, which is part of our enrollment management program. Allowing any student who does not at least meet the 60 hour requirement to enroll in upper level courses potentially takes up seats that more fairly should be filled with upper-level students.

If students approach you with requests of this nature, please inform them of this policy or perhaps refer them to the Undergraduate Program Office for clarification.

Posting grades

Texas A&M University takes the privacy of students seriously. The public posting of grades either by the student’s name, institutional student identification number, social security number or any portion of the number without the student’s written permission is a violation of FERPA. This includes posting grades to a class/institutional Web site and applies to any public posting of grades for students taking distance education courses.

Excused vs. unexcused absences

Each instructor at Mays is responsible for working directly with students regarding excused absences. The Undergraduate Program Office is not involved in this process. The following is taken in part from Student Rules.

Among the reasons absences are considered excused by the university are the following:

Participation in an activity appearing on the university authorized activity list

Death or major illness in a student’s immediate family

Illness of a dependent family member

Participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require a student’s presence

Religious holy day

Illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class (to be determined by the Student Health Center or an off-campus physician)

Required participation in military duties

Mandatory admission interviews for professional or graduate school that cannot be rescheduled

Authorized vs. sponsored activities

An authorized activity is “required due to mandatory participation in a University activity or necessary as a requirement for an official University class.” Examples: class field trips which are required for the class; intercollegiate athletic events; required ROTC training exercises

An authorized activity is an excused absence, and students with official documentation of that activity are to be afforded an opportunity to make-up missed work in accordance with Student Rules

A sponsored activity is an activity “sponsored by academic and non-academic departments, administrative entities, and/or recognized student organizations but not required as part of an official class.” Examples: field trips sponsored by student organizations; tour of Singing Cadets; Aggie Orientation Leaders trip to a conference.

A sponsored activity is not considered an excused absence per the definition above, although instructors are encouraged to use their discretion in working with students regarding missed work for sponsored activities.

From a class participation standpoint, these distinctions are significant. The Office of Student Activities (845-1113) regularly publishes a list of both types of activities that is sent to all departments. The examples listed above were taken from that list

Q-drops

Course evaluation dates

Mays faculty must conduct course evaluations during the span from November 18 – December 6 for the Fall 2018 semester. If you are using online evaluations, please access online evaluations through PICA.tamu.edu.

Redefined days

Final exams

It is Mays Business School’s policy that all Mays instructors administer their last regular exam or final exam, expected of all students, during the official examination period scheduled for their class.

The final examination schedule for classes other than MBA core classes is listed in the class schedule, or on the registrar’s site. The final exam for MBA core classes is available from the MBA Program Office.

Please note: This should not be interpreted to mean that instructor must administer comprehensive exams. This remains the prerogative of the instructor. This requirement does not apply to 481, 681, 484, 684, 485, 685 and/or 691 classes. All other exceptions require advance approval by the academic department head and the associate dean.

Incompletes

An incomplete grade (I) is given for coursework deficiency and not for performance deficiency.

Texas A&M’s regulations state: A temporary grade of ‘I’ (Incomplete) at the end of a semester or summer term indicates that the student (graduate or undergraduate) has completed the course with the exception of a major quiz, final examination or other work. The instructor shall give this grade only when the deficiency is due to an authorized absence or other cause beyond the control of the student.